The time is Spring, 1976. The place is my design studio in Rantoul, Illinois. I had just called my friends in to look at the striping I had just designed for the new Windjammer SS. At this moment in time, nobody outside the company even knew that there was a Windjammer SS. They were happy with their new Windjammer 111 fairings. Nobody knew that over 150,000 Windjammer SS fairings were yet to be made, making it the most popular motorcycle fairing ever.

In the background is the original model Vetter Rocket 3 which became the Triumph Hurricane. Nobody had a clue that the Hurricane would eventually be recognized by England's "Bike" magazine as one of the best 100 motorcycle designs ever. Nobody could have imagined that the Guggenheim Museum would select the Hurricane as part of its "Art of the Motorcycle" collection.

Everything in this painting is real. This is how it looked in the Spring of 1976.

"Where Motorcycle Dreams Were Made" was commissioned to honor the people who were so significant to my company. I want to take a moment to tell you about them.

"Where Motorcycle Dreams Were Made" on display at the 2002 Pebble Beach Concours.

In 2001, Carol and I commissioned John Francis Marsh to paint a special moment in our company's history. John is one of America's most talented painters of automobile and motorcycle scenes. I met him at the Pebble Beach Concours where he is invited to show his work. Among his clients are Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen. 1000 copies of "Where Motorcycle Dreams Were Made", 12" x 17" were printed on heavy stock paper. The prints are numbered, signed by me and embossed with my design logo.

The AFAS Journal did a fine write-up about John and his painting, "Where Motorcycle Dreams Were Made". I think they liked the fact that the subject is a local resident.

The original 30" x 36" watercolor was available for $20,000 and attracted much attention, but went un-sold. Well, it was an automobile show.

"Dreams" inside the AFAS tent

John Francis Marsh and his marvelous paintings. Car buffs from around the world viewed "Where Motorcycle Dreams Were Made" at the AFAS tent, the big tent in the panorama at top.